Murphy – Fingers are being pointed over why the detention officer who was fatally shot during an escape attempt on June 30 was not wearing a protective vest.
Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith confirmed that Cherokee County Transport Detention Officer Francisco Flattes was not wearing a protective vest during the attack, which took place at a physician’s office in Peachtree during a scheduled appointment for inmate Kelvin Simmons.
Simmons, 49, of Concord, was charged with first-degree murder and may face additional federal charges, District Attorney Ashley Welch said.
Law enforcement alleges that Simmons shot and killed Flattes, 56, and assaulted Detention Officer George Feinauer, who was also injured but not by gunfire and expected to recover. Simmons then stole a car and led law enforcement on a chase across three counties before he was captured near Franklin.
This was Simmons’ second escape attempt since October 2024, when the federal prisoner being held for a string of bank robberies across the state scaled a fence topped with razor wire at the Cherokee County Detention Center. He was captured a short time later with severe lacerations.
Simmons faced a string of federal bank robbery charges, plus new charges of felony escape and resisting a public officer from his October escape attempt and, now, first-degree murder.
Smith would not say whose gun Simmons used in the shooting or whether Flattes was armed at the time. He said that information is part of the State Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the incident.
On July 1, a day after the incident, Drew Payne, who works at the sheriff’s office, complained on Facebook about a lack of equipment and insufficient funding from the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners.
Payne, one of two deputies who placed Flattes’ handcuffs on Simmons after his arrest, said Simmons was apprehended after less lethal rounds were used, and now the sheriff’s office was out of that type of ammunition.
“It would be very appreciated if the county commissioners could help in approving us a budget to get these very much needed tools,” he wrote. “We risk our lives every day with the bare minimum in equipment and training, because we do love our community and take pride in protecting it. At the same time we have families we want to come home to.”
He urged his Facebook followers to help lobby for more funding for equipment and training.
“Without them the risk is much greater for everyone,” he wrote. “… It gets exhausting try to accomplish the hardest tasks with no resources or help. I’m not trying to shame anyone or call anyone out specifically, but come on man.”
Officials with Cherokee County government were unsettled by Payne’s post, including county commissioners and Maria Hass, clerk to the board.
“Comments were made by a deputy that suggests the commissioners do not provide essential life safety tools for officers,” Hass said. “Comments that followed suggested commissioners won’t fund vests. I don’t know if that is what the officers are being told by the sheriff, but it is simply not true.
“The board sets the budget, but the sheriff has discretion how he spends those dollars. If officers (sheriff and detention) do not have essential life/safety protection gear, then it is because the sheriff is not spending his budget to purchase those items. Anything over the approved budget, he has to come and ask the board for additional money, but he has never requested additional dollars or use of his designated funds for vests or radios.”
Smith said his un-budgeted expenditures have to receive approval from the board of commissioners, adding he has had mixed results when making those requests.
The sheriff’s office’s 2025-26 fiscal year budget is $5.072 million, an increase from $4.874 million the year before.